Property tax defaulters to be punished as Noida authority plans to 'shame' them

Going tough against property tax and power bill defaulters, the authorities have adopted a unique method to recover dues. The district administration is embarrassing the defaulters by beating drums outside the premises of their offices or residential or commercial properties and posting the videos of the same on social media, according to the Economic Times.

Keshav Kumar, additional district magistrate (finance), Gautam Budh Nagar, said there are around 700 defaulters who owe Rs220 crore to the district administration.

“We usually issue notices to them. However, many of them just don’t respond to the notices. So we have revived the drum-beating method along with the circulation of videos on social media,” he said.

The administration has started pasting stickers on boards at public places, which carries the names and photos of the defaulters.

“Many defaulters are now succumbing to pressure and paying up dues. We have conducted the drum-beating exercise at around 100 places in the past two months. On Monday, the administration also got one person arrested from Greater Noida for not paying up Rs2.11 lakh as electricity dues,” he said.

The administration is entitled to recover any kinds of dues like property tax, power and land cost. The district administration would conduct the exercise even if a recovery certificate is issued from other parts of the country and the defaulter stays in Noida, an official said.